Painting
My paintings capture rare and fleeting moments in oils and watercolors. Nature and people provide my inspiration. There is a duality to my cohesive body of work. I paint the striking moment of light on a landscape or seascape. I catch my figures in the instant they display the skill and beauty of their perfected art or passion. I always find inspiration being close to nature in Vermont and the ocean in Maine. I draw upon my knowledge of human anatomy gained as an R.N., to enhance my figurative work. Celebrating nature and the human form in my paintings is consistent with the duality of themes of my bronze sculptures, most of which have nature themes or are figures in motion.
My painting style is poetic realism, embodying essence over reproduction and frequently a meditation on the pastoral. I begin with some realistic shape and proceed to less identifiable shapes for atmosphere, sometimes blurring into semi-abstraction. I leave my viewer with room for interpretation and contemplation.
Elaine Franz Witten